It’s winter time, which means the New Mexico State Legislature is in session! Even better, this is the winter of an odd-numbered year, which means this is the longer, 60-day session, in which the Legislature’s purview is wide-open. There’s a lot that’ll be going on over the next two months, so we wanted to highlight the main pieces of legislation we’re excited about this year.
The biggest prize this session is a change to traffic laws relating to bicyclist behavior at intersections: bringing the Idaho Stop to New Mexico. This legislation would update state law to permit behaviors known to increase the safety and comfort of cycling and align our laws with those of neighboring Colorado and Oklahoma. We published a longer primer on what the Idaho Stop is a couple months back, which you can read here, but in short it permits two behaviors when there are not approaching vehicles with the right of way:
Cyclists approaching stop signs may proceed through them without stopping (“Yield on Stop”).
Cyclists approaching traffic signals on “red” may proceed through them after stopping (“Stop on Red”).
Importantly, the rules for determining right of way are unchanged, and cyclists should ride at an appropriate speed given the conditions around these intersections to be sure they do have the right of way.
A bill for this law was written and pre-filed in the Senate before the start of the session, with Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez sponsoring it. The bill has been assigned number SB73, and will have hearings in both the Tax, Business and Transportation Committee and the Judiciary Committee—the former of which it passed through unanimously last week. Once it passes through those committees and the Senate Floor, it will go to the House, where Representative Pamelya Herndon will sponsor it. There it will be heard in a to-be-determined committee and brought to the House Floor. After passing in the House it will go to the Governor’s desk for signature.
Where SB 73 is a good bill to support, there is also legislation being considered this session that we oppose. SB 91 will cripple Automated Speed Enforcement, an important tool for making our roads safer for all road users, by restricting municipalities' ability to enforce collection of speeding fines. Currently someone ticketed by ASE in ABQ can either perform 4 hours of community service or pay a fine of $100. If someone refuses both options, their unpaid fine may be referred to a third-party collection and/or reporting agency. SB 91 proposes to prohibit these referrals, forcing jurisdictions to choose between not enforcing the fines or redirecting and retraining their limited internal staff to collect unpaid fines.
At each stage of the legislative process, we need to show legislators support for SB 73 and opposition to SB 91 to make sure the bills proceed as desired by Sine Die on March 22nd. You can find your legislator’s contact information here.
Additionally, municipalities and departments across the state submit requests for one-time capital outlay funding for infrastructure projects. These requests can range from a couple thousand to around hundred million dollars each, and with the surge of short-term money driven by oil and gas production in the state have totaled over $3 billion over the past two years. Below are a selection of the requests pertaining to the Albuquerque area related to bicycle infrastructure, organized by city quadrant. Where possible we’ve included a link to the project, and otherwise just linked as much relevant information as possible. What requests ultimately get funded in the annual capital outlay bill depends on what legislators decide to prioritize, so if you see a project that you like, be sure to let your legislators know! In addition to the project info and funding amounts, we’ve included the request identification number, so you can let your legislator know exactly which projects they should support.
Northwest
$500k for the Calabacillas Arroyo Trail [#4164]
$750k for the West Mesa Trails Plan [#3931]
$475k for a HAWK signal where Guadalupe Trail crosses Montano [#3869]
$15M for the Rail Trail’s Central crossing, Lomas crossing, and Sawmill segments [#4138, 4150, 4155]
$561k for upgrades to Barcelona Rd [#2928]
$1.2M for Phases 4 & 6 of the Alameda Drain Trail [#2913]
$2M for upgrades to 2nd Ave (Alameda to 4th) [#3057]
$500k for landscaping and trail design along Coors Blvd (Central to Bluewater) [#3964]
$500k for traffic calming at 12th and Sawmill [#3468]
$125k for traffic calming on 4th between Menaul and Candelaria [#4235]
$375k for pedestrian improvements and traffic calming on Griegos Rd between 4th and Rio Grande Blvd [#4234]
$425k for traffic calming on 19th between Bellamah and Zearing [#3310]
Southwest
$2.5M for Phase 3 of the Bridge Boulevard reconstruction project [#2927]
$2.5M for upgrades to Blake Rd (Isleta Blvd to Isleta Drain) [#2937]
$2.5M for upgrades to Sunset Rd (Bridge Blvd to Gonzalez) [#2953]
$2.5M for reconstruction of Isleta Blvd (Muniz to I-25) [#2925]
$5M for the Route 66 Visitor’s Center and nearby multi-use trail [4206]
Northeast
$250k for the Paseo de las Montañas Trail [#4026]
$600k for the North Diversion Channel Trail, including security and lighting [#4647]
$3M for the Hahn Arroyo and Hahn Arroyo Trail [#4321]
$500k for the Vista del Norte Drive Trail [#3887]
$1.4M for Phase 2 of the McKinley bike shop [#3939]
$500k for traffic calming on Lomas between Vassar and Arizona [#4388]
$1M for bikeways and traffic calming on Menaul between the North Diversion Channel and the I-25 [#4414]
Southeast
$1.3M for the Juan Tabo Hills Connection Trail (Tijeras Arroyo Trail) [#3075]
$182k for a bicycle activity loop in Four Hills [#2748]
Multiple
$5M for trails and open spaces within the Bosque [#4018]
$1M for smart security cameras and lighting on trails and other public areas of Albuquerque [#4117]
$1M for bicycle-friendly upgrades in downtown [#3832]
$635k for 11 traffic calming projects in District 6 (Clr. Rogers) [#3972]
$500k for speed cameras on Lead and Coal [#3973]
It is worth noting that these projects are at varying levels of maturity. The Alameda Drain Trail, for example, completed its design and outreach phases years ago, and simply needs money to complete construction; the Juan Tabo Connector trail, on the other hand, is having its first public outreach meeting this month. That is also part of why the amount being requested for the remaining Alameda Drain Trail phases is so much more than the request for the Juan Tabo Connector. Nevertheless, the money being requested can—in most cases—be used for anything from planning to design to construction.
In addition to the above projects, which are varying levels of good and worth-it, we also want to highlight the following projects that wish to use capital outlays to widen roads:
$2M to widen University Blvd SE outside city limits* [#4062]
$10M to widen McMahon Blvd in the NW [#4333]
$6.1M to widen University Blvd SE between Rio Bravo and the city limit* [#4373]
$775k to potentially widen Osuna between 2nd and 4th [#3074]
It is worth noting that the McMahon project involves adding bicycle facilities, and Osuna intends to include traffic calming. Nevertheless, we would prefer to see “clean” projects that don’t mix real improvements with elements that increase the danger and discomfort posed by the roads.
The Legislature will be spending a substantial amount of time deciding which projects to defend and champion and which to ignore, so this is an important opportunity to let them know which projects you do, or don’t, want to see funded! You can find your legislator’s contact information here.
* The projects reference “Snake Road”, which does not appear to have a clear definition.